Editing Checklist Step-by-step: how to write like an academic
MLA format Your heading needs to be in the LEFT top corner, but not in the header: Trixie Danger Your name Ms. Boeh Teacher s name English 9/ Block 1 Course/ Block # The entire paper is double spaced; no extra spacing anywhere, not even after the title. Font is 12 Times New Roman or Arial. Never shall you use Comic Sans. 13 April 2018 Date, European format (date month year), no commas
Your title Justifying Insanity: Who Gave Boeh a Credential? It is centered, same font as the rest of the paper. It is catchy and relates to the topic. No one wants to read Essay. It does not have quotes, it is not underlined, and it looks exactly like the rest of the type. Words are capitalized, except for conjunctions, article adjectives (a, an, the), and prepositions.
MLA style for the body 12 font Times New Roman or Arial Double spacing Align to the left Larger works--such as novels, albums, movies--are in italics Shorter works--such as short stories, songs, poems--are in quotes No contractions (can t, won t) Hint: Use your search function to find all apostrophes ( ) to find your conjunctions and change them. Same for you, we, and us. No: You Us We Limit the use of I to your closing, and sometimes you can use it in your opening for argumentative essays.
Commas Put one before a FANBOY conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) if the rest of the sentence AFTER the conjunction can stand alone and still make sense. In other words, use a comma before a conjunction if you have two independent clauses. Ariel tried washing the dog, but could not get it to sit. Could not get it to sit is not a complete sentence. There isn t a subject. Who could not get it to sit? Ariel tried washing the dog, but she could not get it to sit. She could not get it to sit is a complete sentence and can stand on its own. It has a subject (she) and a verb (could not get)
Commas 2 Use them in a series: Ms. Boeh loves warm lattes, foreign films, good books, entertaining her family and friends, and traveling. Always use them after conjunctive adverbs: Furthermore, therefore, nonetheless, likewise, nevertheless, however, further are just a few examples. I hate having to wake up for work every day; however, I am addicted to living in a home with food in fridge, so I do it anyway. *You will also ALWAYS have a semicolon(;), a comma (,), or a period(.) before the conjunctive adverb, like you see above.
Exclamation marks (!) Exclamation marks are for children excited about ponies and candy. You are in high school now, so you will need to stop using them all of the time. Honestly, few things are that exciting. Do not use them because you have a strong opinion or point. The teacher was horrible and cruel! Use it only to illustrate someone shouting or loudly arguing, or if it is in a written statement that you are quoting. He shouted, I will not rest until justice is served! Notice that the punctuation is inside the quotes.
Quotes ( ) Use these around direct quotes. Be sure to introduce the speaker and give context for the quote (such as where was it said or printed, why it was said, or to whom it was said). Erik pleaded, Someone, please get me sunblock! Notice the comma before the quote? Use one when you introduce a quote just like I did here. If there is more of the sentence after the end of a quote, do one of the following: Turn a period into a comma: Brittan said, I must leave, and so she left. Keep a question or an exclamation mark the same and just continue the sentence: Brittan asked, Can I please leave? after enduring his lecture for an hour. Garrett screamed, Brittan, DON T LEAVE! as he watched her run away.
Vary your sentence length This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
Less is more, part 1 In other words, if the word doesn t need to be there in the text, eliminate it completely. Most media pieces (articles, essays, or letters to grandma) can safely lose at least a quarter to a third of its content without compromising the overall message. Examine each word you ve written: does it sound any cleaner if you take it out? Are you using too many flowery adjectives? How many unnecessary adverbs are in there helping lazy verbs? Can you get rid of the helping verbs by making the action verbs more active (was running= ran)?
Less is more, part 2 In other words, if the word doesn t need to be there in the text, eliminate it completely. Most pieces, (such as articles, essays, letters to grandma), can safely lose at least a quarter to a third of its content without compromising the overall message. Examine each word you ve written: does it sound any cleaner if you take it out? Are you using too many flowery adjectives? How many unnecessary adverbs are in there helping lazy verbs? Can you get rid of the helping verbs by making the action verbs more active (was running= ran)? If the word doesn t need to be there, eliminate it. Most pieces, such as articles and essays, can safely lose at least a quarter of its content without compromising the message. Examine each word: does it sound cleaner if you take it out? Are you using too many adjectives? How many unnecessary adverbs are there? Can you get rid of the helping verbs by making the action verbs more active (was running=ran)?
Finally, eliminate repetitive words It sounds weird if you keep repeating the same word or phrase in the a paragraph, and it gets verbally awkward if you are repeating words in a sentence. Search for words you are repeating over and over. (Leader, control, values, etc.) Can you combine a couple sentences so you can eliminate the use of the word? There are good leaders all over the world. But there are bad leaders all over the world too. There are both good and bad leaders everywhere. Use a synonym to replace it: Some leaders are born to be cruel; however, there are many more rulers who are benevolent. Or use a pronoun: Damion is a terrifying leader. He refuses to allow music.